February 12, 2004

EDITORIAL

Addressing a community problem

Last fall, John Gudgel, the principal of Yellow Springs High School and McKinney Middle School, said that he was concerned about a wave of mischievous incidents involving Yellow Springs young people, and urged the community to take the problem seriously. Mr. Gudgel’s warning has not gone unnoticed, given that about 150 parents, teachers, students and interested Yellow Springers attended a public forum earlier this month on the behavioral issues, which have included numerous acts of vandalism and theft. This type of interest highlights the fact that both students and adults are interested in working together on this community challenge.

The effort to bring the community into the schools may prove to be an effective means of shedding light on the recent incidents and exploring the state of young people in Yellow Springs. The more the schools do to encourage dialogue and give the community opportunities to better understand these problems, the better the community’s chances of addressing and even mollifying such behavior.
The schools are wisely not stopping with one youth forum. A second meeting is scheduled for Monday, Feb 23. The forums provide a useful process to identify problems and develop actionable solutions. So far, 11 action items or topics have been identified to discuss at the next youth forum, most of which are related to connecting youth to adults or the community. The schools stress that other ideas are welcome, too.

Building bridges between students and adults, helping these different generations learn more about each other, seems key to the schools’ endeavor. After all, many of the students who have participated in this process have said that adults do not respected them. One student said that high school students feel the community views them as a problem. Some students say that teens are acting out because they are bored, while others equate misbehaving with youthful indiscretions. The challenge is understanding why students feel do not feel respected or left behind, and whether these feelings lead to mischief and even criminal activity.

Adults may be surprised to hear students say that they do not feel supported, when many parents and local residents make a point to attend sporting events, plays and music performances. At every YSHS graduation, for instance, the high school gym is packed with not only parents and family members of graduates, but with Yellow Springers who want to see who is graduating and show support for our young people.

Each Yellow Springs young person must also take responsibility for his actions and the actions of his peers. Students should be alarmed when their peers throw eggs at others, steal at school and vandalize private property. Students must also realize that not every person has daily contact with teenagers, and some people may be intimidated by or not willing to accept youths hanging out on downtown sidewalks talking loudly. Students must respect adults if they want to be respected.

It would be a mistake to place all the blame on the schools for these recent incidents and to expect teachers and administrators to confront this challenge alone. Mr. Gudgel got it right when he said that this is not just a school problem. These issues go beyond the schools into every home in the village. It’s a Yellow Springs problem.

—Robert Mihalek